In most parts of Canada, if you live far away from a school, you will be provided with a school bus.

For that, we’re lucky. Because if you happen to live far away from any schools in certain parts of Africa, you have to find a way to get there anyway. For some kids, that means a two hour commute each way. For others, it can even lead them to drop out. Perhaps the most disturbing part of that scenario, however, is that it could essentially be reversed with as something a simple as a bicycle to cut those commute times down.

That’s where Montreal company Cyclo Nord-Sud comes in. It held its annual bicycle sale and fundraiser on Sunday, where residents can come over to buy, sell, trade and donate some of their used bikes and bike parts. The company then assembles as many complete models as they can, and then ships them off to countries that can really use them; mainly ones in the Caribbean, West Africa, and South and Central America.

Cyclo Nord-Sud has been holding the event for more than 15 years, and has so far donated more than 50,000 bicycles.

“I worked with students in Mali who had a hard time getting to school because they literally had to travel two hours to get to school every day and there was a high drop out rate. So we bought bicycles there and actually got the students to go to school regularly, because it cut down the time they had to transport themselves,” event organizer Robin Black said.

This year’s event was clearly a success, with most items selling out in only two hours, according to organizers.

If you’re interested in contributing, Cyclo Nord-Sud accepts donations all year and has multiple drop points throughout Quebec.